Little lunatic
Author: 橙子澄澄
Source: Instadoses
Time passed quietly.
In the blink of an eye, Liu Yusheng's third birthday passed.
Due to the drought in the past year, almost all the villages around Wutong Town have suffered from hunger. People's lives worsened by the day, with reports of people even starving to death.
Xinghua Village was the only village in the entire town that had not been affected much. It has also attracted the attention of the government, who sent people to investigate and verify. In the end, no reason was found, and nothing was done.
Now that the brothers have been going to school, the family has planted rice again this year after the drought ended.
And she also finally got her official name, which was obtained by Grandpa Liu in the temple on her birthday-Liu Yusheng.
Same as in her previous life.
To say there was anything else special, it was probably the abandoned hut at the foot of Luofu Mountain at the mouth of the village, inhabited by a mother and son.
No one knew when they came, and when they were found, it was half a year ago.
Other than that, what made Liu Yusheng laugh in amusement was the rumors circulating in the village about her.
More and more people consider her extremely blessed and a blessed baby.
This was especially true of last year's ganoderma picking.
She heard that afterwards, the villagers had almost overturned the forest, but could not find a trace of ganoderma. They only saw a small pit behind a large tree, which was left by Liu Yusheng.
The villagers sighed saying life is indeed different from one another. The ganoderma lucidum was right under their noses, but no one took notice of it. Instead, the little baby of the Liu family was the one that got it. What is she if not blessed?
Blessed baby? Liu Yusheng beamed.
If she really was blessed, she would be willing to share her blessings with everyone in the family.
"Nannan, big brothers are back!" Liu Zhixia and Liu Zhiqiu's voice came from outside the courtyard.
"Brother!" Liu Yusheng ran to meet them.
Scenes like this have been staged every day since the brothers went to school.
As soon as they came back from school, before anyone had even entered, they would raise their voices out and shout, then wait for their sister to run over and give them a bright smile.
Watching the tiny figure running towards them, Liu Zhiqiu threw his school bag behind his back and held his sister in his arms, his eyes glowing, "Nannan, I'll take you out to catch some cicadas later! Bored out of your mind today, huh?"
"Yeah." Liu Yusheng nodded with her eyebrows bent.
Liu Zhixia, who took a step in after gathered all the schoolbags. The eight-year-old boy had a little more stability in his countenance. "I'll go get a bamboo pole. Go bring a jug of water, Nannan will be thirsty later."
Grandma Liu stuck her head out of the kitchen, "Are you taking your sister to play again? Watch over her, don't let her fall!"
"Got it Grandma!"
"Grandma, I'll be back with you in a bit of fun!" Waving her small hands, Liu Yusheng grinned and followed the two older brothers who had taken their tools out the door.
Now, she walks steadily and, moreover, speaks fluently.
She was finally free from the monosyllables and slurs of words at the age of two.
There is a big old elm tree at the entrance of the village, and a group of small friends were already waiting there. And after meeting, the group jumped up and down towards Luofu Mountain.
They are all familiar faces. And since Nannan has been a little older and they started school, her two older brothers have been taking her out for fun so often that she can basically recognize everyone of her age in the village.
"Later, everyone just plays near the outer edge of Luofu Mountain, don't run in. The mountains are dangerous, do you hear?"
"Heard it!"
"Nannan, you're the youngest, don't run around and follow us!"
"We'll watch over our sister, don't mess with her or I'll beat you!"
"How can I mess with her? Nannan is our sister too!"
"Bugger off, if you want a sister, go tell your parents to regenerate one, don't grab ours."
"Hahaha…."
With the energy and laughter among her companions, Liu Yusheng followed behind with a quiet smile on her face.
luofu Mountain is located at the mouth of Xinghua Village, which is across the Qinghe River from Xinghua Village.
Compared to Xinghualing in the east of the village, Luofu Mountain is a veritable deep mountain. The mountain is tall and stretches far, and harbors deadly birds and beasts. When the villagers are having a hard time, they often organize a group to go hunting in the mountains together.
Therefore, the impression of each village is that the deep forest of Luofu Mountain represents danger.
But on the edges of the mountain, the villagers would visit from time to time because there are many trees and wild vegetables. They can cut firewood and dig for wild vegetables.
"Here we are, Dabao and Gouwa, first look for sticky cobwebs!" Once they reached the outer woods, Liu Zhixia began to divide the labor, "Zhiqiu, we'll work together. I'll climb the tree later, you keep an eye on Nannan. Don't go to the other end of the woods, be careful of that little lunatic running out and beating people."
With the sound of a cicada chirping, Liu Yusheng looked along where Liu Zhixia had pointed and saw nothing.
"Brother, what little lunatic?"
Liu Zhiqiu answered, "You haven't seen him. They live in a hut at the foot of the hill over there. They've met him a few times when Dabao and the others came to play. That little madman would stone people, Nannan, don't go there, understand?"
Liu Yusheng nodded, thinking that it should be the mother and son that the people in the village had been talking about living in a hut.
Dabao and Gouwa soon returned with cobwebs they've found somewhere. Each person wrapped a little bit around the bamboo poles they've brought. And the simple sticky tool was made.
"Okay, spread out, two people a tree, whoever sticks the least will lose in the end. Dig three sweet potatoes for the winner!"
With the bet thrown in, the young friends scattered noisily to find a big tree, looking for cicadas. Their excitement and gusto rendered Liu Yusheng laughing.
Soon, Liu Zhixia's group had a harvest. The large cicada stuck in the bamboo pole was released. Liu Zhiqiu immediately grabbed it and tore the cicada's transparent wing, then handed it to Liu Yusheng, "Nannan, here, you can play with it!"
The black plump insect, with its large head, shook its six thin legs and the part where the cicada's wings grew would flap from time to time. Liu Yusheng carefully took it over and placed it on the ground, her small face full of novelty.
This kind of experience was absent in her former childhood.
Relative to her knowledge, childish fun is a new wonder to her.
"Thanks brother!" She tilted her little face up with a big smile.
Thank you for being a part of my childhood.
Liu Zhiqiu froze, scratching the back of his head and grinning stupidly.
Their little girl is so, so cute!
Standing in the woods with cicadas chirping, and the occasional booing of the little ones while catching their cicadas, plus the strange looks of those tiptoeing, Liu Yusheng's smile never stopped.
Childhood is supposed to be like this, carefree, happy and simple, filled with glorious colors.
The sun began to set and the woods fell into a purple and gold splendor. Spiraling smoke can be seen in the village houses, and in the distance, the sound of the villagers calling the children home for dinner could be heard.
The cloth bags around the little ones' waists were also mostly half full and it was time to go home.
"Gather, we gotta get back!"
"Where's Dabao and Gouwa?"
"They seemed to have stuck in that direction earlier!" A little one pointed in the other direction.
As soon as his words fell, a scolding burst out from there.
"Hey! Little madman, who asked you to come here! Get out of here! I warn you, if you don't, you'll be sorry!"
Note this is for Offline reading/purpose only credits to the authors, publishers, editors and translators.